


Punishment Games

by MagpiePair



Category: N.Flying (Band)
Genre: Allergic reaction, Allergies, Gen, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Jaehyun has a bad time, Jaehyun is a goof but what else is new, Jaehyun-centric, Kim Jaehyun-centric, Punishment Games, Seunghyub POV, Team as Family, penalty games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:55:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26568400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagpiePair/pseuds/MagpiePair
Summary: It had been an entirely normal filming for a variety show appearance. Or it was until Jaehyun lost the penalty game and ended up drinking hot chocolate laced with ginseng. Which he is /deathly/ allergic to.
Relationships: Cha Hoon & Kim Jaehyun, Kim Jaehyun & Everyone, Kim Jaehyun & Lee Seunghyub | J.DON, Kim Jaehyun & Seo Dongsung, Kim Jaehyun & Yoo Hoeseung
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	Punishment Games

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Hope you're all doing well and thanks for clicking on the story!
> 
> Inspired by Hun saying that Jaehyun can't eat ginseng- there wasn't really a specification as to why, so my imagination decided to run with it and write about him suffering a severe allergic reaction due to it! I'm sorry, why must I put my faves through this...
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

“Stop hanging all over Hweseung already, hyung!” 

Seunghyub sticks out his tongue and tightens his grip around Hweseung’s shoulders. “You’re just jealous you’re not a cute maknae like him anymore.” 

Jaehyun sweeps at Seunghyub’s ankle in retaliation for the jab. Seunghyub manages to dodge (albeit awkwardly, as he still refuses to let go of Hweseung), only to have his sides fiercely poked from behind. He yelps before turning backwards to see his assailant. “Dongsung!”

“I thought /I/ was the cute maknae now,” he pouts. 

“Aish, come here!” Seunghyub raises his other arm, the one not squeezing (chokeholding) Hweseung, and invites Dongsung into his embrace. 

“Seunghyub-hyung!” Jaehyun cries out. The leader only laughs in response to Jaehyun’s mock offense. He swears he hears some of the production staff chuckle fondly while other staff members just sigh. The exasperated reactions only cement how utterly average a day of filming this is for their band. 

The day really does seem like any other, down to Hun and Jaehyun’s ever-escalating game of The Floor Is Lava, which had garnered increasingly bewildered looks from Dongsung before he joined in on their antics; down to the creative places Hweseung had found in the studio to lie down and take stealth naps; and down to the numerous times Seunghyub had sidled over to the snack table despite complaints from numerous stylist noonas and staff and N.Flying’s own manager that they had a schedule to keep to, so if he could just not sneak away for /five/ seconds…

An unremarkable pre-filming routine gives way to an unremarkable briefing before the segment begins. The show they are on, the name of which Seunghyub briefly struggles to remember, has prepared two punishment games for them today, the first of which is a Try Not To Challenge. When the staff inform them of the rules- first, they will listen to a series of music videos during which they may not sing or dance, and next they will watch meme videos compiled by their lovely N.Fias during which they must try not to laugh- Jaehyun groans as loudly as he can. Seunghyub chuckles at Jaehyun’s expressive exclamation; he does imagine this game will be quite difficult for the younger. 

Their guitarist and bassist look comparably more confident, Hun and Dongsung settling into their chairs with determined smiles. Dongsung sends finger hearts to the camera. Seunghyub’s fellow vocalist Hweseung slaps his own cheeks as if to fight off an early bout of giggles. 

Once the game properly gets going, Seughyub sees just how accurate his prediction had been. Although all of the members stumble at points, no one gets caught dancing or laughing quite as much as Jaehyun does over the series of videos. His miserable failure almost makes Seunghyub lose as well, as Jaehyun’s boisterous laughter is nothing if not infectious.

The staff clap when the first game concludes. The director calls out, “Alright, Jaehyun! As the loser, each of the other members will get to give you a forehead flick.” Jaehyun yells out again in frustration, and Seunghyub can already imagine the fire-breathing graphic editors will overlay on top of the shot. The cameraman comes in closer as Seunghyub prepares to inflict the first blow.

“Sorry, Jaehyun~,” he calls, sounding not apologetic in the slightest. He rears back his finger before releasing a killing blow upon the drummer’s forehead. Jaehyun’s hands shoot up to his head, and he rolls around on the floor, nearly knocking into a light stand in the process. The others’ laughter is deafening.

Dongsung goes next, and the boy is truly too soft for his own good as he winds up a seemingly devastating attack only to leave a gentle flick upon Jaehyun’s forehead in the end. Jaehyun grabs his arm and smiles. “Oh, this is a good dongsaeng. Alright, you are my favorite today!” Dongsung winks cheekily in response, turning back to their other bandmates as if to gloat his new position as the favorite. 

Hweseung seems not at all perturbed, instead grabbing Jaehyun’s wrist while he is distracted and smacking it with two fingers. 

“Yah! Forehead! You are supposed to hit my forehead!” He calls out fruitlessly, holding his arm out extended in front of him as though the strike had rendered him immobile.

Yet, despite Jaehyun’s words, Hun ignores the memo as well. “Hey, lean forward,” he calls out. When Jaehyun complies, rocking forward on his knees and squeezing his eyes shut in anticipation of the flick, Hun instead takes advantage of his position to provide a slap to Jaehyun’s butt. 

Seunghyub backs up so as not to be in Jaehyun’s path as he jumps to his feet and chases Hun around the set. He can’t help but roll his eyes and smile fondly at Jaehyun’s usual dramatics. And so they conclude the first segment and first punishment game quite chaotically- par for the course for them. 

\--

But it seems like this day is out to get Jaehyun, because when the next activity resumes after a 20 minute break, it is he who again draws the short straw. And as the game this time is purely luck-based, Seunghyub wonders if there isn’t some god of games staring down and laughing at the drummer as the game unfolds. Is there a god of gaming? Seunghyub isn’t sure, but if not, then which god /did/ Jaehyun piss off? 

The funny thing is, Jaehyun didn’t even come last in the game.

“Rock paper scissors?” Hweseung questions. “Easy.” He smiles with a confident shake of his fist, again declaring his assurance in his victory. 

The director continues his explanation. “Before you are four normal hot chocolates and one which has been made… let’s say, /very/ bitter. You will play rock paper scissors to get to select your mug.” 

The five bandmates form a semicircle in front of the camera, and indeed, Hweseung wins the first game. As he throws out paper to beat everyone else’s rock, he walks away from the circle with a triumphant grin. He selects the middle glass and rejoins their huddle, slightly off to the side to watch the next match. This time, Jaehyun wins, and he chuckles in a nearly alien-like crescendo as he approaches the table with the mugs. He spends entirely too long deliberating and making “Hmmm…” sounds before picking up on the cup on the right, explaining how it gave off “good energy.” 

The next few rounds proceed in the following order: Dongsung gets to pick, then Seunghyub, and finally Hun is left with the leftmost cup. He grumbles endlessly before raising the drink to his nose and cutting off his complaints. He turns thoughtful instead. “I think this one might be normal, though?” 

The others don’t sniff their own drinks, not brave enough after already being locked into their choice. They go down the line drinking one at a time, each member exhaling in relief after only sweetness and chocolately goodness meet their tastebuds. It comes down to Seunghyub and Jaehyun, both of whom shoot each other an uneasy glance as the tension mounts. After Seunghyub thinks “fuck it” and downs his drink, only to come back up fine, the rest all laugh as their turn their gazes upon Jaehyun. 

He is mashing his teeth together in a pained way, the corners of his mouth pulled up in an approximation of a smile. His eyebrows pinch as he turns to the staff. “Ah, me again, huh?” He chuckles in a way that would be frightening if he didn’t follow up by turning his head to the sky and shouting “Yah!!” so dramatically. He takes a moment to steel himself before tipping his drink back.

Seunghyub joins the chorus of the other members in crying out, “Ohhhhh!!!” while leaning in eagerly for Jaehyun’s reaction.

For a moment, Jaehyun’s face doesn’t betray anything. 

When his expression does twist, it is into confusion first, then seeming panic.

The others echo his confusion at how quiet Jaehyun is, having expected him to gag and yell immediately. Instead, his eyebrows raise to his hairline and his hands shoot up to grab at his throat. The noise he finally releases is a wet cough, followed by a, “….can’t…”

Hun speaks up first. He shifts unconsciously closer to Jaehyun before responding, “Huh? Can’t? Can’t what?”

Dongsung moves in closer as well. “Is he… okay?”

Seunghyub wants to respond that of course he is, he’s just trying to provide an interesting reaction, but he can’t even believe in his own platitudes as Jaehyun continues to gasp shallowly as though no air were getting in. And from Jaehyun’s earlier aborted statement and the hands on his throat, Seunghyub feels a wave of /fear/ as he wonders if maybe there really is no air getting through. He looks at Jaehyun then, who only seems to faring worse and worse, and thinks, ‘please. /Please./’ Please what? He’s not sure. Breathe? Don’t look at him as though he were about to fall to the ground and never get up again?

At some point while Seunghyub has been descending into hysterics, Hun has crouched near Jaehyun. A blank look overtakes his features all at once, and he jumps up and shouts toward the staff, “What was in it??”

Seunghyub suddenly remembers that there are others in the room. Others who also look incredibly distressed. The main PD stammers out, “Wh-what?”

“The drink you gave him. What was in it?!” 

“W-we just wanted to make it really bitter. Just some ginseng-” 

Hun doesn’t wait for the rest of the sentence, pulling out his cellphone and dialing a number in one swift motion, then shouting a moment later into the receiver, “Ambulance!” He lists off the address in record time.

Seunghyub is grateful for Hun keeping a level head because he feels the ground shifting out from under him. Ginseng? Fucking ginseng? Everyone in the group, even their most recent addition Dongsung, is well aware of Jaehyun’s severe allergy to ginseng. Fuck, how had this happened?? 

Hweseung is also keeping it together, bless him, as he calls out desperately, “Does he have an EpiPen with him?” He is set forward on his toes as if ready to sprint toward Jaehyun’s bag.

The closest to Jaehyun, Hun, manages to reply as he tucks the phone between his ear and his shoulder, “No, he always said he didn’t need one. Shit!” He turns back to Jaehyun whose face has begun to pale. Seunghyub sees Hweseung race toward their stuff, seemingly to search anyway. Seunghyub hopes beyond hope.

Dongsung curls a bit into Seunghyub’s side as Jaehyun’s condition slowly worsens. “I-… Shouldn’t we… Isn’t there anything we can do?” 

Seunghyub clenches, unclenches his fists, focusing on the feeling of the nails cutting into his palms over and over again to ground him in the moment since he still feels like he is floating above the sky while watching his bandmate and brother suffocate in front of him. “I don’t know,” he responds once he is able, cursing out himself and the staff and even their managers who had suggested this program, as Seunghyub just stands and stares /uselessly/. 

It feels like hours before the paramedics arrive, shoving the boys and crew aside to reach Jaehyun. Seunghyub can’t see what they are doing, and over the commotion, he can’t even hear Jaehyun’s ragged breaths- which of course freaks him out to the point that he feels as though he can’t breathe, either. Finally, they load Jaehyun onto the stretcher. When they say that someone can ride with him, Hun doesn’t hesitate before following on their heels. 

Seunghyub swivels to their manager, nearly slipping in his haste, and he doesn’t need to say anything before the manager is grabbing his keys and ushering them toward his car. 

\-- 

An achingly tense ride ensues, during which Hweseung and Dongsung both grip Seunghyub’s hands so tightly that he loses nearly all circulation. Seunghyub can’t even say what is going through his mind at this point. Finally, mercifully, they reach their destination, and they tumble out of the vehicle and through the hospital doors. 

The manager frantically calls out Jaehyun’s name until a nurse points them to the right room. When they enter, Hun is seated by Jaehyun’s bed, his face in his hands, muttering something unintelligible under his breath. He barely turns to them as they come in. 

Seunghyub finds his voice. “How is he?” he finds the strength to ask. Even as he surveys the scene himself. Even as he takes in Jaehyun’s form on the bed- his pallor sickly beneath the oxygen mask and his eyes scrunched shut as if in a troubled sleep. 

“They got to him in time,” Hun exhales, sounding as emotional as Seunghyub has ever heard him. “They said if they had gotten to him even a few minutes later-” He chokes, unable to finish. 

Seunghyub places a hand on his shoulder. Hopes it provides even a modicum of comfort. “They got him. We’ve still got him.” Hun turns his head into Seunghyub’s arm, and Seunghyub doesn’t comment on the shuddering breaths or sniffling he hears. 

The youngest two don’t fare much better, tears already streaming down Dongsung’s face as he looks down at Jaehyun, and a frightfully lost expression on Hweseung as he stares blankly at the wall. Seunghyub wants to reach out his hand to them as well, but he knows they might need a moment to process on their own before they come to him. Hell, Seunghyub needs a moment or five to calm himself down, his adrenaline still spiked from the earlier emergency. Even if Jaehyun is out of the woods, even if he is no longer in immediate danger, Seunghyub feels absolutely miserable seeing him so quiet and ill. He should be jumping around bothering them. He should be singing random songs, poking Seunghyub when he’s not looking, and whipping up Hun and the maknae line into joining his shenanigans. 

Silence falls over them. The manager seems reluctant to leave Jaehyun’s side, but eventually he leaves to call and inform Jaehyun’s family and the company of the incident. The four conscious members continue to sit in silence, finding themselves in the stiff hospital chairs with their minds racing a mile a minute. 

At last, Jaehyun stirs. When his eyes flutter open, Dongsung is the first to notice. “Hyungs!” he calls out. Hweseung follows his lead, standing up and leaning over Jaehyun. Hun exhales sharply, and Seunghyub wonders if he might cry again. He feels more than hears Hun swallow down his own sob, however, when they see tears on Jaehyun’s cheeks. 

Weakly, his voice barely audible above the white noise of the room’s machinery, Jaehyun calls out, “…Guys?” 

Seunghyub shushes him. “We’re here. You’re okay. You’re gonna be okay.” 

Instead of smiling the goofy smile his brothers have been longing to see for the past couple hours, Jaehyun’s face crumples. More teaks leak out as he croaks out, “…I was so scared.” 

Seunghyub throws his arms around Jaehyun before he can even think about it. Still mindful of the oxygen mask and other nearby equipment, he slots Jaehyun’s head onto his shoulder and runs his hands through his hair. He feels weight on his back as Hun joins the embrace, then Hweseung, then Dongsung. 

“We were scared too, asshole. Bring your fucking EpiPen with you next time,” Hun huffs out. 

“I mean, I hope there won’t be a next time,” Jaehyun chuckles. But he sobers up a moment later, a smile, however small, remaining on his face. “But, yeah… I will.” 

“You better,” Seunghyub shoots back. 

“Hyung…” Hweseung whines, pouting at Jaehyun all too cutely. “Are you really okay now?” 

Jaehyun leans into his touch and seems to think better of it before responding, probably to consider a sincere answer instead of his usual playful or dismissive one. Seunghyub is grateful for that. “Yeah… I’m not 100% yet, but I will be.” He looks then to Dongsung, who is curled up near Jaehyun- but from his longing look toward Jaehyun, he yearns to be closer, to feel him in his arms and be assured that he is by their side and fine (or as fine as he can be after suffering anaphylactic shock a measly few hours earlier). 

Seunghyub understands the impulse, his own fingers intertwined with Jaehyun’s in an unusually intimate display of affection for the two. Yet, Seunghyub itches to be even closer, to be cuddled against him, to grab him and not let him go. For now, he pushes the urge down to revisit once they are out of the hospital and in their apartment. 

Jaehyun seemingly holds no such reservations, as he extends his arm to invite Dongsung onto the bed with him. Dongsung smiles and happily complies. Jaehyun’s smile stretches a bit wider this time. And his face is still too pale, the tear tracks still fresh on his face, but that widely-stretched eye smile is as much as his bandmates can ask for at the moment. 

Seunghyub winces again as he recalls the terrifying incident that had landed them here- remembers that cursed, tainted hot chocolate. He resolves to help Jaehyun overcome this surely traumatic encounter with the drink by fixing him all the /normal/, sugary sweet, rich hot chocolates that he can drink when they get back. 

And if the nurse comes in later and scolds them for piling onto the patient’s bed, they can’t even fight their giggles as their own smiles match Jaehyun’s. They faced a scare today, but it just leaves them more sure than ever of how much they need each other. 

And how they /won’t/ be leaving Jaehyun alone for even a second for the next long while.


End file.
